While many of us will be jetting off on holiday this year nobody spends as much time on planes as the crew. Flight attendants and pilots know aircraft like the back of their hands – and all the dirty secrets that go along with them.

With outbound flights from the UK predicted to hit 86.9 million by 2024, airline pilot Patrick Smith revealed that planes don’t get cleaned as much as you’d think. You might be disgusted when you realise the truth behind the cleaning schedules.

The commercial pilot spoke to eShores and explained that proper deep cleaning only happens after long-haul flights. So if you’re hopping on a quick trip to Spain, France or Ireland it’s likely your plane hasn’t been scrubbed.

READ MORE: Flight attendant shares 'gross' fact about plane toilets and common passenger habit

Patrick commented: "Cabins are given at least a cursory straightening up after every flight, with deeper cleans taking place when a plane has a longer layover. The quality of the cleaning can vary from station to station."

Not only does the cleaning vary by airport, but also by nation. Patrick added: "At my airline, I notice our planes are tidier when the cleaning occurs in Europe or Asia, versus a U.S. domestic station."

You shouldn't worry too much about how clean the plane is though. Hand sanitiser and plenty of hand washing can reduce the chance of you picking up a bug while travelling.

But, there are some areas in the cabin that flight attendants recommend you avoid touching too much if you can help it. Some are obvious and others less so.

Barbie, 29, from Argentina, works as a flight attendant for La Azafata and regularly goes viral for sharing travel tips and secrets on TikTok, @barbiebac.ok.

She tells her three million subscribers that you should always wear shoes in the lavatory of a plane. She said: said: "If I had choose the top three dirtiest places in the plane, I will put in first place the toilet floor. A lot of people go in there without shoes, I can’t believe it."

The bathroom floor is often covered in splashes of liquid by the end of a flight. It's not water, but actually pee from passengers missing the loo when they urinate. Nice.

Barbie added: "In second place are the seat pockets, I’ve seen passengers putting disgusting things in there and the cleanliness of this place is never great. And in third place is the bins. When the cleaning team enters the aeroplanes, they never clean the bins, so imagine what you can find in there."

Other parts of the plane that aren't cleaned very often include the fans above your head. Using them to adjust the temperature can make your flight more comfortable, but they are rarely sanitised.

Air hostess, @katkamalani, added her comments and revealed the "nastiest parts on a plane from a flight attendant". In the clip, she said: “First thing’s first, do not touch the back seat pocket.

"They clean them out between flights, but they don’t sanitise them. Think of all the dirty tissues, barf bags and garbage that has been in there."

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